Perry Hussars painted as the 4th (French) Hussars around 1812-15. My stamina must be flagging because I find myself only able to paint these squadron (6 figures) by squadron.
Phase one of this Napoleonics project is the initial French force consisting of a Division of infantry. Each battalion is 36 figs plus a further six duplicated voltigeur company, which is exactly the contents of a Perry box of plastics. These are pretty much done and I’ll be showing them over the next few weeks. Also to be done in Phase one are Generals, one battery of artillery and 4 squadrons of hussars.
Phase two will be a similar sized Prussian force and as I progress I’ll add additional divisions with the aim of using as many plastics as I can and as many figures designed by the Perrys.
The aim is for them to be used from 1812-1815 but with a focus on the year 1813.
Pictured above is the first brigade of the Division (GD Foy’s) and it is commanded by General de Brigade Valhubert who was killed at the battle of Austerlitz. But I have resurrected him because I used to leave near the Normandy town of Avranches, where he was born and where there is a splendid statue of him erected by King Charles X in 1832.
He commands two battalions, the first and second, of the 6th Legere. I extracted most of the figures without greatcoats from 10 Perry boxes to give these chaps a more regular appearance.
He also commands three battalions of the 30th Ligne making his command a total of five battalions or 210 figures.
Organisation and pre-SYW service
This regiment was raised probably raised in 1631 by the duke of Saxe-Weimar when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden intervened in the affairs of Germany. The regiment was among the contingent who joined the French service in 1633. It was incorporated into the French army on October 26 1635.
In 1651, the house of Turenne acquired the regiment. On April 24 1657, when Turenne became colonel-general, his regiment was renamed Colonel-Général Cavalerie and took precedence over all other line cavalry regiments and ranked first.
During the War of the Polish Succession, the regiment served on the Rhine in 1733, taking part to the siege of Kehl. In 1734, it was at Ettlengen and Philippsburg, in 1735 at Klausen.
During the War of the Austrian Succession, the regiment took part to the invasion of Bohemia in 1741. In February 1743, it returned to France. In 1744, the regiment served at Saint-Quentin, then in Flanders. On May 11 1745, it took part to the battle of Fontenoy. In 1746, it was at Bruxelles and fought at Rocoux on October 11. On July 2 1747, it took part to the battle of Lauffeld. In 1748, it was at the siege of Maastricht.
Exceptionally, this regiment counted 3 squadrons.
During the Seven Years' War, the regiment ranked 1st among the line cavalry and was under the command of:
When the French cavalry was reorganised on December 1 1761, the regiment was increased to 4 squadrons, each of them consisting of 4 companies of 40 troopers, for a total of 640 troopers. The additional squadron came from I./Montcalm Cavalerie.
SYW service
In 1756, the regiment was stationed at Strasbourg.
In June 1757, the regiment was with the Lower Rhine Army under d'Estrees encamped at Bielefeld. On July 26, the regiment took part in the battle of Hastenbeck where it was among the cavalry of the right wing. After the victory, the regiment encamped at Grosselsen near Hameln with the main body of the Lower Rhine Army from July 31 to August 2. After the Convention of Kloster-Zeven (September 8), it followed the main body, led by the maréchal de Richelieu, who encamped at Halberstadt from September 28 to November 5. The regiment was placed on the first line of the right wing. At the end of the year, it took its winter quarters in Weener in Ostfriese, in the fourth line of the French Army.
In April 1758, when Clermont redeployed his army along the Rhine, the regiment was stationed in the villages of Till, Moyland, Huisberden, Warbeyen, Grieth, Kaltenberg, Hasselt and Bedburg in the area of Kleve. After the successful crossing of the Rhine by Ferdinand's army on May 31, the regiment retired towards Rheinberg where it joined Clermont's army on June 2. It remained in this camp until June 12. It was placed on the right wing of the first line. On June 23, the regiment took part to the battle of Krefeld where it was placed on the right wing of the first line, under d'Armentières. In Mid August, after Ferdinand's retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, the regiment, as part of the army of the Lower Rhine under Contades recrossed the Rhine to follow the Allied army. On August 20, it was encamped near Wesel where it was placed on the right wing of the first line.
La Reine French cavalry regiment of the WAS/SYW, figures by Front Rank. These were sculpted over ten years ago but are still, in my opinion, the best French cavalry available in 28mm. Although there are only two basic rank and file cavalrymen, you can, with a pair of pliers, move the arm into a slightly different angle and give them more variety. Beware though-livery is a fiddly nightmare!
The Arquebesiers de Grassin figurees are from Eureka and gorgeous they are too. They have one of the most complicated and theatrical uniforms of the period - a red mirliton, edged blue, with a brass front plate, blue cockade and white plume. The blue coat is trimmed in black fur for the rankers and I have given grey fur for the officers, though this is speculation on my part.
Just to let you all know that we have started work on the third colour booklet in our Greenwood & Ball series on uniforms of the SYW, which are available from 18thCenturyPress (link on the right hand side).
